Andrew is a 17-year-old high school senior in Minnesota and captain of his swim team. I have written before about his terrific blog the Transpiration of Andrew. He has an awesome post up now that has him writing to his 11-year-old self, a scared boy coming to terms with his sexual orientation. It is moving [...]
Posts under ‘High school’
Being hit by rock causes gay teen athlete to stand against homophobia
Two years ago, Jacob Gardner of Madison, Conn., was walking on the track before a high school track meet when he was hit in the head by a rock thrown by a teammate who said he did it because Jacob is gay. A great story in the Shorline (Conn.) Times relates that this has a [...]
High school athlete links Tennessee teen suicide, proposed anti-gay bill
Phillip Parker, 14, of Gordonsville, Tenn., killed himself this month, a victim of constant bullying at school, his parents said. “He kept telling me he had a rock on his chest,” said Ruby Harris, Phillip’s grandmother. “He just wanted to take the rock off where he could breathe.” His death stunned his family (750 people [...]
Transgender athlete bill pulled from California legislature
Updated Jan. 13, 10:55amPT After digging a little, it seems there’s more to the story than was originally released about the pulled California bill that would ensure access to K-12 sports for transgender students. The bill was pulled by lead sponsor Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (right). We had previously reported the reasoning, given by Sacramento based advocate [...]
Puck Buddys interview with a gay high school hockey player
Our friends over at Puck Buddys, the terrific website for gay hockey fans, are publishing the first part of an interview with Zach, a gay high school hockey player. Zach is a gay hockey player. He’s been skating since he was a kid and moved up through the ranks from his area’s youth hockey leagues [...]
Update on outed lesbian softball player Skye Wyatt’s lawsuit
Pat Griffin has a full rundown of the latest from the Sky Wyatt lawsuit. Watt alleges that her high school softball coach in Kilgore, Texas, outed her to her mother, violating her right to privacy. From Griffin’s blog: The lawsuit claims that the coaches: 1. Called Skye to a fake team meeting 2. Locked Skye [...]
‘The Last Closet’ is looking for a young gay athlete
For the last few months I’ve been chatting and working with two fantastic documentary filmmakers, Dee Mosbacher and Fawn Yacker, on a project to unearth the truths about homophobia in men’s pro sports. Fawn and Dee are the women who brought us the groundbreaking film Training Rules, about Rene Portland and the Penn State women’s [...]
Soccer America’s Youth Soccer Insider talks to Dan Woog about coaches and gay issues
Part of the problem of homophobia at the high school and youth levels is that coaches don’t have the best tools to deal with homophobia when they see or hear it. So it’s fantastic that Soccer America sat down with one of the foremost experts on the subject: Openly gay author and high school soccer [...]
‘Ookie cookie’ hazing incident grips Andover Massachusetts high school basketball
The Andover High School basketball team has been torn apart by a hazing incident that has left two students expelled from the school and seven more suspended. The incident took place at Hoop Mountain basketball camp last summer and involved a “game” called “ookie cookie” or “wet biscuit.” From the North Andover Eagle-Tribune: Hoop Mountain [...]
High school crew coach Kevin Hogan is…gay porn star Hytch Cawke
It seems Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden, Mass., recently hired a new English teacher and crew coach named Kevin Hogan. The local Fox affiliate got a tip that that new teacher also happened to appear in porn. Gay porn. With the terrible porn name of Hytch Cawke. The school has put Hogan on [...]
Dad on teen athlete’s son’s coming out: ‘A liberation for all of us’
Editor’s note: A month ago, we ran the first-person coming out story by high school volleyball player Galen Dodd. His father, Ian, wrote us a week later and then gave us permission to reprint his letter. We seldom hear from parents about how their child’s coming out affected them and thought Ian Dodd’s letter would [...]
‘Power gobbling’: Hazing leads to sex assault charges for Montana high school football player
A Great Falls, Mont., high school football player is facing rape and sexual assault charges after a hazing incident this fall in the locker room. Alex Botina-Roehm, 18, was arrested Monday and is charged with hazing two students. His bail was set at just more than $100,000. Court records say the hazing involved coming up [...]
Should boys compete in girls high school sports leagues?
In Massachusetts, Norwood High School’s star swimmer Will Higgins broke a 26-year-old meet record in the 50-yard freestyle in the state’s swimming and diving championships regional meet…for girls. Yes, because his high school has no boys swim team, by state law Higgins is allowed to compete on the girls team. While he broke that meet [...]
Wyoming high school football coach resigns after mock survey has question “I am a queer”
A head high school football coach in Wyoming has resigned after he gave his team a mock survey that used homophobic and sexist language. The coach, Pat Lynch, of Buffalo High School handed out the survey called “Hurt Feelings Report” to his players prior to a playoff game. (Update: See survey below). It provided boxes [...]
National Association for Sport and Physical Education joins GLSEN’S Changing The Game
We can’t say enough about the work being done by GLSEN’S Changing the Game project. While so many other organizations preach to the choir or hope the voices of celebrities do the talking for us, Pat Griffin and her crew are taking the message of inclusion where it counts. The latest is the announcement that [...]